Great; Greatness

grāt, grāt´nes: “Great” occurs very often in Scripture. The chief words so translated are גּדול, gādhōl, רב, rabh; μέγας, mégas, πολύς, polúš.

(1) In the Old Testament many other terms are employed: (a) gādhōl is used to express greatness in various senses, chiefly of magnitude, including excellence, e.g. “great lights” (Gen 1:16); “the great city” (Gen 10:12); “a great nation” (Gen 12:2); “a great sight” (Exo 3:3); “Moses was very great” (Exo 11:3); “the great God” (Deu 10:17; Neh 1:5); “great is Yahweh” (Psa 48:1). It is sometimes translated by “mighty” (Deu 4:37; Deu 7:21, “a mighty God,” the Revised Version (British and American) “great”). It is also used to designate the high priest (literally, “great,” Lev 21:10; Zec 3:1, etc.); also to express the “elder” of a family, e.g. Gen 27:1, “Esau his eldest son,” the Revised Version (British and American) “elder”; probably also of great stature: “a great man among the Anakims,” the Revised Version (British and American) “the greatest” (Jos 14:15). (b) rabh denotes, rather, quantity, number, therefore, often, “many” (Gen 21:34, etc.; Exo 2:23 the Revised Version (British and American), etc.); “abundant” (Exo 34:6, the English Revised Version “plenteous”), and similar terms; thus we have “a great people” (Jos 17:14); “His mercies are great,” the Revised Version, margin “many” (2Sa 24:14; 1Ch 21:13); “Great was the company,” the Revised Version (British and American) “a great host” (Psa 68:11); “great reward” (Psa 19:11); “Mine iniquity ... is great” (Psa 25:11); “exceedingly” (Psa 123:3). In the Septuagint rabh is, for the most part, translated by poluš. But it is used for “great” in other senses, e.g. “the great (God)” (Pro 26:10), the Revised Version (British and American) “as an archer,” margin “master worker; Hebrew text obscure”; “a saviour, and a great one,” the Revised Version (British and American) “defender,” margin “or a mighty one” (Isa 19:20); “Great shall be the peace” (Isa 54:13), etc. It is sometimes translated “mighty” (Psa 89:50, the Revised Version, margin “many”; Isa 63:1). (c) Other words thus translated are kābhēdh, “heavy,” e.g. “so great a people,” the Revised Version (British and American) “thy great people,” margin “heavy” (1Ki 3:9); m^e’ōdh, implying force, might, e.g. “with all his might” (2Ki 23:25). ’El and ’Elohim are sometimes used to express greatness. In Psa 36:6, we have “Thy righteousness is like the great (’Ēl) mountains,” the Revised Version (British and American) “mountains of God”; in Gen 30:8, “with great (ם, ’Ĕlōhı̄m) wrestlings,” the Revised Version (British and American) “mighty,” margin “wrestlings of God”; and in 1Sa 14:15 “a very great (ם, ’Elohı̄m) trembling,” the Revised Version (British and American) “exceeding great,” margin “a trembling of God.”

(2) (a) Megas denotes magnitude, in its various aspects, physical, moral, etc., e.g. “great joy” (Mat 2:10); “a great light” (Mat 4:16); “the great King” (Mat 5:35); “great in the kingdom” (Mat 5:19, etc.); “Great is thy faith” (Mat 15:28); “The greatest is charity” (love), the Revised Version, margin “greater” (1Co 13:13); “a great high priest” (Heb 4:14); “the great shepherd” (Heb 13:20); “a great voice” (Rev 1:10); in Rev megas is very frequent. (b) Polus denotes properly number, multitude, e.g. “great multitudes” (Mat 4:25); “a great company” (Luk 5:29, the Revised Version (British and American) “a great multitude”; frequent in the Gospels); “great possessions” (Mar 10:22). But also “great” in the sense of magnitude, e.g. “great plainness of speech,” the Revised Version (British and American) “boldness” (2Co 3:12; 2Co 7:4); “a great trial of affliction,” the Revised Version (British and American) “much proof” (2Co 8:2); “great love” (Eph 2:4). (c) Among other terms we have tēlikoútos, “so great” (in degree), “so great a salvation” (Heb 2:3); tosoútos, “so great” (in quantity), “so great faith” (Mat 8:10; Luk 7:9); “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1); hósos, “how great” (in quantity) (Mar 3:8; Mar 5:19 f); hēlı́kos, “how great” (in degree) (Col 2:1; Jas 3:5, “how great a matter,” the Revised Version (British and American) “how much wood,” margin “how great a forest”); pēlı́kos, “how great” (in degree) (Heb 7:4); pósos, “how great” (in quantity) (Mat 6:23), etc.

(3) In His person and teaching, Jesus introduced into the world a new conception of greatness. It was to be found in humility and self-forgetting service: “Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister (the Revised Version, margin “servant”); and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant (the Revised Version, margin “(Greek) bond-servant”): even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mat 20:26-28; compare also Mat 18:1-4; Mat 23:11; Php 2:5-11 ).